Above: Cocoye Anglade in Haiti (Photo: MT Haiti)

By the Caribbean Journal staff

Canadian travel company Transat will begin offering vacation packages to Haiti out of Montreal starting Jan. 23, the company announced Thursday.

The packages will combine stays in Port-au-Prince and on teh Cote des Arcadins, with a programme of guided tours, historical sites, sports and seaside activities.

“More and more travelers want to enjoy an enriching experience when they take their sun holiday,” said Annick Guerard, general manager for Transat Tours Canada. “These new packages are designed for customers seeking vacations that combine discovery and relaxation. We have developed an innovative and distinctive product that is consistent with our desire to offer holiday travel that is centred on authenticity, culture and nature.”

The move comes after a series of meetings with Haiti’s Tourism Ministry, mostly recently an exploratory visit to Haiti in November.

Along with seven-day “double-discovery” packages, travelers to Haiti will be able to choose from a group of four-day seaside packages, the firm said.

All excursions and visits will reportedly be led by local Haitian guides.

In a statement, Tourism Minister Stephanie Villedrouin said Transat was the first major Canadian tour operator to offer tourism packages to Haiti.

“Our country has all the potential necessary to win back the hearts of international travelers, particularly Canadians, who have always shown great solidarity with Haiti,” she said.

Transat’s Air Transat division makes weekly flights between Montreal and Port-au-Prince.

Air Transat is the leading charter carrier in Canada, carrying more than 2.5 million passengers to 90 destinations in 25 countries each year.

“We are taking the partnership we established with Haiti nearly 20 years ago a step further and we are planning to expand this initial offering in the coming years,” Guerard said.